


Exes and Italicized Oh's

by 1Temmie_Official1



Series: Someone, I tell you, will remember us, even in another time [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Aromantic Jet (Avatar), Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Lesbian Katara (Avatar), M/M, Nonbinary Toph Beifong, Pansexual Aang (Avatar), Past Jet/Katara (Avatar), Past Jet/Zuko (Avatar), Past Relationship(s), Sappho (fl. 600 BCE) Poetry, Trans Azula (Avatar), Trans Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, sappho quotes as a love language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28981356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1
Summary: Okay, so how was Katara supposed to know that Jet was not only her first kiss, but SokkaandZuko's bisexual awakening?
Relationships: Aang/Teo (Avatar), Azula/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Suki/Ty Lee, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong/Mai/Suki, Toph Beifong/Mai/Suki/Ty Lee
Series: Someone, I tell you, will remember us, even in another time [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116947
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	Exes and Italicized Oh's

House parties. Katara's second-worst nightmare, the first obviously being "Sokka is funnier than me" or "I'm secretly straight". They were tied.

But, unfortunately, house parties were unavoidable. Especially when Katara and Azula had finally bought, ya know, a _house_.

Yeah, Katara still couldn't quite believe it herself. After 3 years of living together in an apartment building, and they had finally saved enough money to buy a _house_ together. A house!

So that meant that they were obligated to hold a housewarming party. For their house. (No, Katara was _not_ over it. A house! An actual house with her girlfriend!)

"Hey, Sugar Queen." Azula purred. Katara rolled her eyes, making room on the couch.

"That's Toph's nickname for me. Oh yeah! I should invite them." Katara scribbled down Toph's name on the growing list.

Azula tapped on the paper. "You have to invite all of their partners too."

"Hm, true. Mei won't cause trouble, and if Ty Lee does then Suki will keep her in line." That was sound reasoning.

So far the list was:

_Sokka  
Zuko  
Aang  
Teo  
Toph  
Mei  
Ty Lee  
Suki_

"You think that's it?" Katara asked, pen still poised above the paper.

Azula pondered for a moment. "That's pretty good. If you have a last-minute invitee, just make sure it isn't more than one person. We don't want Zuzu to get sensory overload."

Katara nodded. "I'll make sure."

Azula sighed. "I hate parties." She leaned into Katara's shoulder. Katara sighed in solidarity.

"So do I." Katara leaned into Azula. She reached a hand into the firebender's hair, running her fingers through the tangles. Azula had let her hair down to take a shower and hadn't put it back up yet. Good for her hairline. Katara waterbended the shower water off, that was one of the good parts about being a waterbender. In exchange for removing shower-hair-water, she got to cuddle with a toasty firebender.

"Thanks," Azula mumbled. "Should I grab a blanket?"

Katara closed her eyes, instead choosing to wrap her arms around Azula. "You're warm." Azula chuckled, a wonderful sound that vibrated in Katara's chest.

" _You came, I was crazy for you and you cooled my mind that burned with longing._ " Azula serenaded, quoting Sappho. " _I would not think to touch the sky with two arms._ "

Katara smiled but didn't give Azula the satisfaction of opening her eyes. An idea sprung into her head. "Do you trust me?" Katara finally opened her eyes to the sight of her lover.

Azula's eyes brown as burning coals stared back. "With my life."

Katara smirked. "C'mon." She pulled the both of them up, taking Azula's hand in her's, she walked over to the radio-CD player and put in a CD. Azula smiled and dropped Katara's hand in favour of performing the most ridiculous bow that one could do. Katara giggled.

"May I have this dance?" Azula offered her hand again. The music from the radio filled the air, the beginning chords to _Clocks_ began to hum from the radio. They spun around, Katara trying to do old ballroom dances, Azula, who only knew formal ballroom dances, was a smidgen better but in the end, they both fell down. The laughter in that moment was what made their house a home. They spun and swung and danced until they were dizzy, or at least until the music changed to something calmer.

 _"Honey you are a rock upon which I stand, and I come here to talk, I hope you understand."_ The slower chords of the guitar played through the speakers. Katara was leaned on Azula, both of them slowly swaying to the music. She hummed the melody, having heard the song before.

Katara put her head on Azula's shoulder. Azula wrapped her hands around Katara's back. 

_"I came here with a load, and it feels so much lighter now I've met you. And honey, you should know that I could never go on without you."_ She whispered along. _"Green eyes..."_

Azula's hands were warm, something that happened when she was nervous. Katara

Katara stared into Azula's eyes. _"Honey you are the sea upon which I float. And I came here to talk, I think you should know."_

The music swelled to a crescendo, and as if they had been practicing their whole lives for this moment, they kissed.

Oh, a kiss was a too-simple word for what happened. They promised each other they'd never let go. They told stories of too-wet hair, Sappho quotes on dark nights, inkblots and raindrops, fireplaces and orange leaves, first kisses and second chances. They told the story of _them_ , they told the story of the word 'home'. And as the music melted away, the two stood. Stripped bare of any doubt.

_"I love you."_

_"As do I."_

_-_

Katara stared at the phone in her hand. It was the day of the housewarming party, there really wasn't anything that she could do at the moment. They had already chosen outfits and styled hair (Azula in a black tube top, black skinny jeans, and her red leather jacket, Katara in her black ruffle-top and blue palazzo pants). So the only option was to prepare the house for a night of Toph bullying her brother. _Oh!_

In most circumstances, people would not want to see their ex at a party, much less be the one to invite said ex, but Katara was not like most people. Jet really wasn't _that_ bad, radical sure but have you seen the state of the world? Plus, she still owed him for the time that he helped her cover for her ecoterrorism spiel. They had really bonded after blowing up that illegal waste factory, and the fact they had dated for like a week really wasn't a problem. Especially since Katara was lesbian, not bisexual as she had previously thought.

In a spur of the moment decision, she texted him. _Hey, Azula and I finally got a house together and we're holding a housewarming party tonight, if you can make it we'd love to have you there. It starts at 7 pm and we're keeping drinking to a minimum._ That seemed good, she sent it.

"Katara!" Azula called from the kitchen. "I need some help with these dumplings!"

"Coming!" Katara put down her phone and went to help Azula. The fun part about making dumplings with a firebender and a waterbender was that they could make the water the perfect temperature to make even better dumplings.

However, what she didn't notice as she left the room, was the vibration of her phone and the text that showed on front. **_Sure_**

-

The first people to arrive, as predicted, were Aang and Teo. Teo rolled in holding ( _yes_ they built in a wheelchair ramp, they weren't ableist), with Aang helping to push him up the ramp behind, orange monk robes clashing with his light-up sketchers. Even Teo had made himself more 'presentable', wearing something besides his working clothes.

Katara smiled. "Hey, Aang! Hi, Teo! You want some help with that?" She pointed to the bag in Teo's hand.

Teo grinned. "Sure, it's some gifts for you guys. For the house." Katara took the bag from Teo's hands.

Aang motioned to it. "Do you want to open it?"

Katara hummed. "Maybe. Azula!" She called to the general direction of Azula. "Is it proper house party manners to open the gifts while the guests are here?"

"Fuck if I know! The house party manners were made up by cishet neurotypical people! Open it, I'm almost done stir-frying!"

Katara reached into the bag. One of the gifts was two candles in a mason jar, the wax colour was white. A quick whiff was all she needed to tell what smell it was, Jasmine vanilla. "Scented candles! I love these!"

Aang nodded. "I made them myself!"

Katara gasped. "They're great!"

"I know!"

Teo coughed. Katara flushed. "I'll check out yours now, Teo."

The second item in the bag was a houseplant. The pale green leaves were quite small compared to the pot it was in. "A succulent?"

" _Echeveria elegans_. They're snow-ball succulents, I made it so the water doesn't drain out but also doesn't over-soak the roots." Teo bragged. "I hope it gives you the crispiest air."

"I helped with the succulent facts!" Aang butt in. "Also make sure not to water it too much, wait until the soil is dry."

Katara nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." It was only at this moment that Katara realized her hands were full. "I'll find a place to put these down, you guys make yourselves at home."

Katara walked to the kitchen and placed down the candles and succulent on the counter. Azula was transferring the stir-fried rice from the wok onto a plate. "Can you help?" She asked.

Katara walked over, holding the wok steady so Azula could finish scraping the rice onto the plate. "It smells delicious." Katara complimented.

"Thanks, I learned from the best."

"The Internet?"

Azula laughed. "Nope, me."

Katara slapped Azula's arm lightly. "Jerk."

"But you love me."

"You're absolutely right." Katara agreed. She put down the wok, and Azula put down the spatula. Both activities were very important because they gave room for Azula and Katara to have a nice makeout session on the counter.

Katara tangled her hands in Azula's hair, they could easily fix it later. Azula's lipstick was probably coming off and Katara's braid was getting messed up but both of them were too caught up in each other to care.

This is why they didn't notice their next set of guests arriving (it was actually quite lucky that Aang and Teo were sitting by the window and were there to let them in).

But their guests noticed them.

And they were absolutely _delighted_ to have new bullying material.

"Hey, gay people!" Katara froze at the sound while Azula jumped away. Katara broke out of her spell first.

" _Toph,_ " Katara hissed despite having no moral high ground to stand on. She thanked her dark skin for being able to hide the blush. Azula wasn't as lucky, her hair was a mess, her lipstick was smudged, and her face was as red as the leather jacket she was wearing.

Toph cackled. "I can't even _see_ and I know how red you both are!"

Azula pointedly looked away from Toph as she fixed her outfit. "Excuse me, but I am _not_ red."

"You know I can tell you're lying."

Katara frowned. "How did you even get here... oh." The answer struck her. Katara buried her head in her hands. "I didn't even notice you guys arrived." She mumbled.

Toph punched Katara in the arm. "Yep! At least I know why-"

Azula sighed. "I suppose everyone is going to know about this?"

"Yep!"

-

Sokka and Zuko were late, but that was okay, they were the least valid gay people of the bunch (Toph's words, not Katara's).

They were all sat on the couches and chairs, just talking about life. Katara was in the middle of telling the story of how Azula and she had accidentally won a couple's race when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, Azula can finish the story."

She walked over to the door. _I wonder who that is_ she thought to herself. She opened the door and broke out into a grin. "I hope I'm not too late." Jet smirked.

Katara let him in. "Jet! Come in!" Jet walked in, handing a bag to Katara.

"Yeah, Smellerbee insisted on making a card. It's a bit of decor for your house. Premium Freedom Fighter quality." Jet joked. Katara laughed.

"Guys! I invited Jet." She led him to the living room. Almost every person there froze.

"The fuck's a Jet?" Toph said, utterly unaware.

"Oh he's an old buddy of mine, we committed ecoterrorism back in the day," Katara mentioned.

"Oh." Azula had the strangest look on her face. Katara sat down next to her.

"Where are we again?"

"Right at the beginning of the race."

"Oh yeah, well it was the weirdest experience..."

-

The evening was going semi-smoothly, but there was a constant, unaddressed tension that ran thick. It was only a matter of time before something happened.

"I can't stand it!" Katara frowned at Zuko's sudden outburst. "It's Jet."

Everyone looked curiously at him. "He's my ex, also my bisexual awakening." Zuko elaborated.

Sokka exhaled thankfully. "Thank the spirits." It was Zuko's turn to be confused. "When he dated Katara I thought I 'hated' him because he was dating my baby sister but I just had a crush on him."

Suki frowned. "I dated him."

Azula glared at Jet. "Mei, Ty Lee, and I beat him up for breaking Zuzu's little heart."

Jet put his hands up in surrender. "Hey I'm just aromantic, I thought that I just had a very specific type I swear."

Toph burst out laughing. "I have no fucking clue who you are. Props for managing to seduce Sparky _and_ Snoozles."

Katara was flushed red. "How was I supposed to know?!"

Zuko glared at Katara. "I don't know Katara." He threw his hands up. "Agni! All the lesbians I know are useless."

Katara was inclined to agree.

**Author's Note:**

> fuck you i know that no one can buy a house in this economy but the only bad thing that exists in this world is Just Klown Rowling.
> 
> Yeah what I'm saying is that this universe takes place in the same universe as 'Take Your Best Shot'. Don't ask me how.
> 
> I do _not_ know how fashion works so do not @ me about how someone's clothes are wrong.


End file.
